Study of applicants for abortion at the Royal Northern Hospital, London.

Abstract

In the second and third quarters of 1970, 155 women applied for abortion to two of the three consultant gynaecologists at the Royal Northern Hospital, London. Of the applicants, 100 were single, forty-two married and thirteen widowed, divorced or separated (WDS). The single women came disproportionately from larger than average families, and fifty-eight were from broken or unhappy homes. Of the total sample, 39% were Church of England and 30% Roman Catholic. By occupation, the largest group was of semi-skilled or unskilled workers (thirty-seven) and the smallest one of professional women (seven). Less than half were Britishborn and one-third were from the Commonwealth. More than half had never attempted to use any method of contraception. The 155 patients between them had had fourteen previous abortions and twenty-five illegitimate children.Of the 155 women, seventy-one single, twenty-three married and eight WDS obtained an abortion, this proportion of single women being considerably higher than the national average. So also was the proportion of women in the age range 20–34 years. Slightly more women who were Britishborn and C of E by religion obtained abortion than were represented in the sample as a whole. A number of clinic and hospital details were recorded, such as stage of pregnancy at first hospital interview and at abortion, delay in securing hospital appointment and bed. A follow-up, about 18 months later, showed that nearly all the women were glad they had had an abortion; very few had experienced serious depression, feelings of guilt or religious problems afterwards. Most of the women who needed it were now using birth control, mostly the pill. Three patients became pregnant again within a year of their termination. One had a miscarriage and one (a schoolgirl) had a second termination. The third applied for a second abortion, but was refused.Fifty-three women, approximately one-third, did not have a hospital abortion, but only fifteen of these were categorically refused; the others had spontaneous or private abortions, changed their minds after interview or failed to appear for the operation. Of the fifteen, seven were refused because the pregnancy was too far advanced. Two girls were refused because they had had previous unwanted pregnancies, but had not used contraception on this occasion; one of these was 19 years old and already had had two abortions and an illegitimate baby. The remaining six were refused for various reasons.Some general conclusions are drawn from the survey and some recommendations made.